Sustainable Development Goals and standardisation, how do they connect?

In January 2016 the new global agenda for sustainable development was launched around the world. The new agenda seeks to build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) from 2000 and contains 17 goals within different sectors and categories. It is up to Governments, private sector, civil society and people around the world to implement activities and find practical tools on how to work together to fulfill the targets.

Some of our main focus areas

Click on the thumbnails to read more about the goals.

The key words for the SDG agenda are sustainability; economic, social and environmental, and universality. Universality means that all countries regardless for their current economic capacity have agreed to work towards these goals. Both low income countries and high income countries are requested and expected to take action to even out economic, social and environmental inequalities.

Eight out of the 17 goals directly target issues concerning our climate, how to build sustainable cities, stop climate change and find sustainable ways to care for life under water as well as on land. One of the first steps on how to handle the rising temperatures and climate changes was taken at the COP 21 meeting in Paris in December 2015 where Government representatives and world leaders met and discussed some of the challenges concerning the environment.

International standards are possible tools for practical working towards the SDGs and economic, social and environmental sustainability. There are a wide number of standards which relate to the SDGs; to mention a few: ISO 14001 Environmental management system – Requirements with guidance for use and the 14001 family of standards, ISO 37120 Indicators for city services and quality of life, ISO 13065 Sustainability for bioenergy, ISO/TS 14067:2013, Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products — Requirements and guidelines for quantification and communication and ISO 14040 Environmental management - Life Cycle Assessment.

Within SIS projects in developing countries, stakeholders from various fields; private sector, academia, Government, NGOs etc. have been involved and received training on standards, standardisation and environmental issues through capacity building activities around specific environmental related standards (ISO/TS 14067, ISO 14040, ISO 14001 among others). The aim is to increase the capacity and awareness among stakeholders of the usability and benefits of standards for them to make their contribution to decreasing the impact on the environment. This plays well into the global agenda and shows that standards are important in assuring sustainable development and reaching the SDGs as well as in coordinating work between different regions in the world.